Posted on 12/24/2009 11:20:25 AM PST by jessduntno
The classic Indian Chief motorcycle, prized for its fanciful fenders and an American heritage different from its much bigger rival, Harley-Davidson, is back and finally ready to roll in California.
First built in 1922 and in and out of production ever since, the Chief has been ridden over the years by actor Steve McQueen and other renegades possessing fame and fortune. Now it has been overhauled for the modern era.
Although motorcycle sales are down nationwide, the Chief is already a sought-after ride in 16 other states where it has been on sale since early this year.
The Chief just hasn't been available on the West Coast. But that's about to change this spring with the 2010 Chief, selling for $26,000 plus. This month the latest incarnation of the 108-year-old Indian brand announced the names of two of its five planned California dealerships -- one in Harbor City and the other in Fresno. -snip-
For a company to sell motorcycles in the state, California's Air Resources Board must provide an additional emissions certification to the one issued by the Environmental Protection Agency that allows a manufacturer's products to be sold in other states.
Indian secured its California emissions clearance only last week. Heese is confident that the motorcycles will arrive well before the planned April openings of California Harley-Davidson Indian Motorcycle Los Angeles in Harbor City and Indian Motorcycle Fresno, based out of a car dealership, Herwaldt Subaru.
"I can't wait to get these new Indians so I can put them on the lot and buy a new one myself," said Matt Herwaldt, 30, general manager of Indian Motorcycle Fresno. He owns a Harley but is "blown away by the quality, fit and finish of the new Indian. It's the Bentley of motorcycles."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I'm cheating here, I don't have an image of my other bike so after a little bit of a Google search I found an image almost exactly like my other bike. Its a 1980 Honda CX 500 Deluxe, I bought it used, it was in storage for awhile and ran poorly, after cleaning the carbs and a replacement stator it runs like a raped ape, I love riding it in town but prefer the bigger 1300cc V Star when I get on the highway.
A little more detail about the new company;
http://www.ultimatemotorcycling.com/Indian_Motorcycle_Company_Resurrection
I’ve had 24 bikes and never a Harley........I ride from Phoenix to Ca often and breakin down ain’t an option
I ride a 1998 Harley electra glide classic which has 208,000 miles on it. Only on trailers twice both for flat tire on the rear. Hasn’t let me down yet knocking on wood.
That sounds like what Tucker did the get his car built. Built his prototype with parts from other manufacturers, way ahead of his time and the Big # did not want “modern” ideas as that would require them to massively retool everything, its a shame history did what it did to the Tucker automobiles.
Frankly I am impressed with what Victory is offering lately though personally I may stay with Yamaha and either get an FJR1300 or a Stratoliner Deluxe in the future.
Little known trivia: The Indian motorcycle company was the most desirable motorcycle up until WWI when the US Army contracted to buy 100% of their production for the duration of the war. Suddenly you could no longer purchase a new Indian for any price so the people went to HD instead. Indian never fully recovered after that.
2001 Indian Chief:
A *real* Indian:
I’ll send the link to our friend the nail pounder. The carpet layer told your cousin he has a old Indian he said he wants to sell and Old Dino is on a road trip to Az on that weird steering trike he now rides in his 80s. How’s that for dropping names?
What, again? What’s that, three times now in the last couple of decades that someone has tried to resurrect this brand?
Crazy...it would be like HD going under, a bowling ball company took over HD and f%cked it up so bad it was a joke, someone took it back and then started building beautiful bikes...I guess...wouldn’t it?
And, no, the new Indians are NOT the same as the Gilroy disaster...I’m not saying they are going to be the best ever built, not hyping them, not an owner or have any stock...just love the idea of seeing another old icon coming back to life...that’s all...
I’m pretty envious of you, I was asked to join a team in gas turbine land based generator design back in 1983, I was too young and declined and thus I am but a simple heavy equipment mechanic now.
cool........hope it stays that way.......Ride Free !!!
I have a 2007 H-D FXSTC Softail Custom. It has more of a 70s chopper look to it, but it is the same price as other bikes with the same frame, rear suspension and engine that might be considered in the same class as the Indian. My bike, and the others like the Softail Deluxe or Fat Boy are about $18,000. (Mine was $17,995 in 2007)
It came with a 96 cid engine (1584 cc) that I felt did not have enough oomph at highway speeds. It also came with cheap rubber foot pegs and plain hand controls. The brake lines and clutch cables are also rather plain. Fasteners are prone to corrode.
I now have the 103 cid kit (1700 cc) and have upgraded my hand controls, cables, brake lines, foot pegs, fasteners, and exhaust. I have probably spent about $6000 or $7000 extra on the bike to get it to how I wanted it.
If the Indian comes with all the chrome bits and pieces (it already has a 105 cid mill), then it might not be as crazy of a price as it sounds compared to a Harley.
As far as the Japanese competition, well I had a few of those too. For $8000 to $12,000, you can get a bike that looks like a Harley from ten feet away. They employ a lot of plastics and trickery.
For instance, on my Suzuki the “oil tank” was a fake. The “air cleaner housing” was a fake. The “cooling fins” on the engine were fake (it was water cooled, not air cooled like a Harley). The fenders were plastic. The “engine case” was a bunch of chrome covers hiding the real engine case. The sound was also not that satisfying with its staggered crank pin. (The Harley has retained its single crank pin heritage, which gives it that distinctive sound.)
It was also not as reliable as my Harley. The engine wiped a bearing at 10,000 miles. I rebuilt it, and the same bearing wiped at 20,000 like clockwork. My Harley has 24,000 trouble-free miles.
I love my Harley and wouldn’t trade it for the world. I hated my Japanese cruiser. (But I love my Honda sport bike and motocross bike!)
Willie G. got lucky when he bought H-D back from AMF in the mid-80s. He managed to revamp the line just in time to catch all the yuppies who wanted to put an edge on their images and have one last “rebellious” phase before they had kids and got “old”. From there, the bad-boy image went to the investment entrepreneurs of the 90s who again wanted to pretend they were Sonny Barger on weekends so they could spice up their otherwise utterly normal lives. I’m not denying they had some ingenious marketing, but it had a lot more to do with favorable timing than it did with any of the bikes they built (which were, by then, almost half as reliable as the Japanese bikes, at only twice the price).
My daily driver on San Diego freeways...2009 Kawasaki Versys. The Roadliner+trailer was too heavy to pull behind the Mercury Mariner Hybrid on a 923 mile trip from Pocatello to San Diego. 53 MPG. It saves lots of commuting wear on the Mariner at 70+ miles daily. I still have the "cage" for bad weather days and long trips home (like this week).
You're ignorant.
My Harley is the toughest bike I've ever owned. I'm brutal on my bikes. The Harley is the only one that's never let me down. I've ridden it through the "Valley of Fire" in Nevada mid day in August. I've ridden it for four hours in a nor'easter from NYC to Washington D.C. and back the next day where it dropped to 20 degrees. I dump the clutch at every light I can, I do burn outs with it, and have even done two (accidental) wheelies with it. I've bent two front rims and one rear hitting debris on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Triboro Bridge. I never warm it up in the mornings; just fire it up and go the second it does (don't want to piss off the neighbors too much). Never a problem with my Harley.
Now my foreign bikes are a different story. My first Suzuki gave up at 10,000 miles and again at 20,000 miles after I rebuilt it. My second Suzuki also wiped a big end bearing. My Honda sport bike is too powerful for me to wring out to the point of failure, but it can't take the NYC summers sitting in traffic. Boils over, runs rough, cuts out. And I have intermittent electrical problems. My Kawasaki was stolen before I could kill it, but the mirror broke off and gave me a glimpse of the cheap pot metal some of the parts on the bike were made of.
Basically, you should be tired of ripping on Harley's by now. This isn't the 70s anymore.
This is a joke, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.